Thursday, August 9, 2018

Today in History for Aug. 9, 2018

Aug. 9, 1173 – Construction of the campanile of the
Cathedral of Pisa (now known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa) began. It would take
two centuries to complete.

Aug. 9, 1593 – Biographer Izaak Walton was born in Stafford,
England. He is best remembered for his 1683 book, “The Compleat Angler.”

Aug. 9, 1776 - On Staten Island, Guy Johnson, British
Superintendent of Indian Affairs, returned from England and shared his belief
that the Iroquois would choose to ally themselves with the British.

Aug. 9, 1790 - The Columbia returned to Boston Harbor after
a three-year voyage, the first ship to carry the American flag around the
world.

Aug. 9, 1809 - The first sale of public lands in Madison
County, Ala. was held on this day. Georgia planter Leroy Pope purchased acreage
around Big Spring and succeeded in having it selected as the county seat on
July 5, 1810. White settlers had been arriving at Ditto's Landing on the
Tennessee River and in the area of present-day New Market between 1802 and
1804. John Hunt, arrived from Tennessee and settled in the area known as Big
Spring in 1805. That same year the Chickasaw ceded their rights to the area and the Cherokee ceded their lands in
January 1806, and illegal settlement began in earnest. By the time Madison
County was established by the Mississippi Territorial Legislature in December
1808, the village known as Hunt's Spring boasted a population of 300. Between
1810 and 1819, Madison County grew rapidly in both population and size with
further public land sales. By the time Alabama became a state on December 14,
1819, Huntsville was a commercial center in the heart of a rich cotton-based
agricultural region.

Aug. 9, 1814 - The Treaty of Fort Jackson was finalized
after warring Creeks, under the leadership of William Weatherford, aka “Red
Eagle,” surrendered to Gen. Andrew Jackson and ceded their lands to the federal
government. This event opened up half of the present state of Alabama to white
settlement.

Aug. 9, 1844 – James Berney Stanley, founder and longtime
editor of The Greenville Advocate, was born in Hayneville in Lowndes County. During
the Civil War, he served with the 17th Alabama and was severely wounded at
Franklin, Tenn. He established The Advocate in November 1865.

Aug. 9, 1845 – Nicholas “Nick” Stallworth was born in
Evergreen. On April 24, 1861 at Sparta, he joined the Conecuh Guards as a
private at the age of 15, becoming the youngest member of the 4th Alabama
Infantry Regiment. He was wounded in left forearm and right thigh at Cold
Harbor (Gaines Mill) and later became adjutant of 23rd Alabama Regiment. He
became an attorney after the war, a state representative and solicitor of 11th
Judicial Circuit.

Aug. 9, 1848 - Martin Van Buren was nominated for president
by the Free-Soil Party in Buffalo, New York.

Aug. 9, 1853 – Dr. John Watkins passed away at the age of 68
at Burnt Corn. He is buried at Old Bethany Baptist Church at Burnt Corn.

Aug. 9, 1854 – “Walden”by Henry David Thoreau was first published.

Aug. 9, 1862 – During the Civil War, Confederates scored a
narrow victory at the Battle of Cedar Mountain as Confederate General Thomas J.
"Stonewall" Jackson narrowly defeated a Union force led by General
John Pope at Cedar Mountain, Va. Union losses totaled 2,300 out of 8,000. The
Confederates suffered 1,300 casualties out of 18,000.

Aug. 9, 1862 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at Salem, Walnut Creek and Sear’s Ford, on the
Chariton River, in Missouri.

Aug. 9, 1862 – During the Civil
War, a Federal expedition was conducted against Indians from Fort Walla Walla
to the Grand Ronde Prairie in the Washington Territory.

Aug. 9, 1863 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at Garden Hollow, near Pineville, Ark.; at Ash
Hill, Ark.; at Sparta, Tenn.; and at Brandy Station and Welford’s Ford in Virginia.

Aug. 9, 1863 – During the Civil
war, a Federal expedition was carried out from Cape Girardeau to Poplar Bluff
in Arkansas.

Aug. 9, 1864 – During the Civil War, now that Fort Gaines on
Dauphin Island, had surrendered and Fort Powell at Cedar Point had been
abandoned, the Federal siege of Fort Morgan, Ala. began. Major General John
Granger embarked for Navy Cove, four miles down the peninsula from Fort Morgan
on the bay side of Mobile Bay. The commander of Fort Morgan, General Richard L.
Paige, caused the gunboat Gaines to be burned, the hospital and other
outbuildings. After landing, the Federals moved forward and by nightfall,
Granger’s force was less than two miles from Fort Morgan.

Aug. 9, 1864 – During the Civil
War, a six-day Federal operation began in Central Arkansas. Skirmishes were
also fought at Hatch’s Ferry, Ark.; along Hurricane Creek and at Oxford, in
Northern Mississippi; and near Sycamore Church, Va.

Aug. 9, 1864 – During the Civil
War, an explosion of Federal ordnance at City Point, Va. occurred as two
Confederate agents smuggled a bomb aboard an ordnance supply ship unloading at
the docks. The initial blast caused sympathetic detonations of nearby ordnance.

Aug. 9, 1864 – During the Civil
War, three months of active service by John S. Mosby’s force began in Virginia.

Aug. 9, 1867 – Rev. Fielding Straughn of Belleville, one of
Conecuh County’s earliest settlers, passed away at the age of 83. Straughn was
among the first settlers in Bermuda, originally known as Graham’s Saloon, in
1817. Born in 1783, he was buried in the Straughn Cemetery in Conecuh County,
Ala.

Aug. 9, 1877 - Paleontologist Timothy Abbott Conrad passed
away in Trenton, N.J. He studied the fossil beds at Claiborne for two years
with Charles Tait and published the first geologic map of Alabama. During his
time at Claiborne, Conrad shipped cases full of fossils back to Philadelphia
for identification.

Aug. 9, 1879 – A meeting of ex-Confederate soldiers was held
in Evergreen, Ala.

Aug. 9, 1886 - Commissioners Court convened in Monroeville
on this Monday with commissioners Herrington, Locklin and Green present. The
Monroe Journal reported that “there was a larger number of people from all
parts of the county attending commissioners court this week than usual.”

Aug. 9, 1887 – Mrs. Cotter, the wife of the late Dr. J.W.
Cotter, died at Perdue Hill on this Tuesday morning.

Aug. 9, 1897 – George Bradley was tried for the June 17
murder of Richard Rumbley at Rumbley’s store near Pleasant Ridge. Bradley was
found guilty and hung on Sept. 17, the second hanging in Monroe County since
the Civil War.

Aug. 9, 1899 – Everette Howard Brown was born in Conecuh
County, Ala. During World War I, while serving with the 167th Regiment, 42nd
U.S. Division (Rainbow), he would be killed in action on July 27, 1918 in
France. He enlisted in the Alabama National Guard’s Co. G, 1st Ala. Infantry in
Bay Minette on June 17, 1917. He is buried in the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery,
Fere-en-Tardenois, in France.

Aug. 9, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported that Mr. J.W.
Wilkerson was up from Manistee the first of the week.

Aug. 9, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported that “our genial
and generous sheriff Mr. M.M. Fountain will accept the thanks of The Journal
for two fine watermelons.”

Aug. 9, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported that cotton was beginning
to open, “reminding us of the approach of fall.” The first open bolls of the
season were reported to The Journal by Russell Broughton of Monroeville and
Hixon Bros. of Hixon on July 29.

Aug. 9, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported, in news from the
Manistee community, that “new life has sprung up in the Masonic Fraternity at this place. The brotherhood of various lodges have united and will endeavor to
establish a lodge some time in the
near future. We will be pleased to have any brother who would like to become a
charter member to meet at Manistee on Saturday night, Aug. 11, at seven
o’clock.”

Aug. 9, 1906 - A storm of wind, hail and rain on this
Thursday at Pineville injured the corn and cotton “very much and tore up the
trees in a belt of country just beyond our neighborhood.”

Aug. 9, 1906 - The Monroe County Masonic Conference closed a “most pleasant and profitable”
three-day session at Tunnel Springs on this Thursday. The conference convened
on Tues., Aug. 7, with representatives present from all chartered lodges in the county and a number of
visitors from adjoining counties. The following officers were elected: D.C.
Mims, Worshipful Master; S.H. Dailey, Senior Warden; J.W. Hadley, Junior
Warden; R.E. Barnes, Secretary-Treasurer. The 1907 session of the Conference
was to be held at Blacksher Lodge in
Maros, Ala.

Aug. 9, 1910 – Alfred Robert “Son” Boulware Jr. was born.
Many believe Boulware was the inspiration for Harper Lee’s Boo Radley. He died
of tuberculosis on May 2, 1952 and is buried in Monroeville, Alabama’s
Pineville Cemetery.

Aug. 9, 1914 – The Battle of Mulhouse began, part of a
French attempt to recover the province of Alsace and the first French offensive
of World War I.

Aug. 9, 1914 - Barely one week after the outbreak of the First World War,
German Minister of War Erich von Falkenhayn puts Walter Rathenau of the large
electronics firm Allgemeine-Elektrizitats-Gellellschaft (AEG) in charge of
organizing all the raw materials for Germany’s war production.

Aug. 9, 1915 - The midsummer term of the Monroe County Law and Equity Court
convened for a two-week term in Monroeville, Ala. There were three convictions
for felonies during the term. One defendant was given a two-year penitentiary
sentence and two received sentences to hard labor for 18 months and six months,
respectively. Fines imposed during the term amounted to about $1,000.

Aug. 9-11, 1916 - The three-day Conecuh County Masonic Conference was scheduled to be held at the Repton Masonic Lodge. J.M. Pearson, chairman of the Committee on Work of the Grand
Lodge, was expected to conduct the
conference. P.S. McKinley was Secretary.

Aug. 9, 1916 - The preliminary hearing in the case of the
State vs. J.M. Wiggins, charged with the murder of K.W. Smith, began before
Judge I.B. Slaughter on this Wednesday morning and was still in progress as The
Monroe Journal went to press. The object of the hearing was to determine
whether or not the defendant was entitled to bail.

Aug. 9, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that Lt.
Emmett Kilpatrick of Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. had been recommended for promotion as
intelligence officer on the staff of the U.S. Army at Washington.

Aug. 9, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that the
many friends of Captain John Y. Kilpatrick regreted to learn that he recently
fell and since then had been confined to his home. His son, 1st Lt.
George C. Kilpatrick of the U.S. Army was in Camden visiting him.

Aug. 9, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that
Howell P. Hamilton had died at his home at Fatama, age about 35 years. He was
born and raised in Mims beat and was in early life happily married to Miss
Majors. The interment was at Fatama, where many friends gathered to pay their
last tribute of respect to his memory. Born in 1880, he was buried in the Enon
Baptist Church Cemetery at Fatama in Wilcox County, Ala.

Aug. 9, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that U.S.
District Judge Hon. Robt. T. Ervin of Mobile and daughter, Miss Francis, and
son, Robt. T. Ervin, were visiting Mrs. S.J. Ervin and family at Rockwest. It
was a pleasure to his boyhood friends to learn that this distinguished jurist
had been selected by the U.S. Supreme Court to preside in the New York federal
courts in October and November next.

Aug. 9, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that the
Hon. J.M. McLeod of Coy said the crops around Coy were very good.

Aug. 9, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era reported that
Deputy Sheriff McLean said that, as a general thing in the county, corn was
very good, early corn was injured by the drought, the cotton crop was very good
considering the small amount of fertilizer that had been used.

Aug. 9, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era, in news from the
Pine Hill community, reported that Clay Sheffield and son went to Selma the
first of that week and purchased a new Cadillac.

Aug. 9, 1917 – The Wilcox Progressive Era, in news from the
Lamison community, reported that a party of young people consisting of Misses
Alma Moore, Lillian Fields and Lensor Moore, Messers. Callen, Sims and Boggs of
Selma enjoyed motoring to Pine Hill, Thomasville, Peach Tree and other points.

Aug. 9, 1922 – Poet Philip Larkin was born in Coventry,
England.

Aug. 9, 1930 – Major League
Baseball infielder Milton Bolling was born in Mississippi City, Miss. During
his career, he played for the Boston Red Sox, the Washington Senators and the
Detroit Tigers. After his playing days, Bolling spent more than 30 years with
the Red Sox, first as an executive assistant to owner Tom Yawkey, and later as
an area scout based in Alabama.

Aug. 9, 1934 – Evergreen’s baseball team beat Florala in
both games of a double header, 4-1 and 2-1.

Aug. 9, 1936 – During the Summer Olympic Games of the XI
Olympiad, Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the games.

Aug. 9, 1942 – Major League Baseball center fielder Tommie
Agee was born in Magnolia in Marengo County, Ala. He would go on to play for
the Cleveland Indians, the Chicago White Sox, the New York Mets, the Houston
Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals. He is best known for making two of the
greatest catches in World Series history, both of which occurred in game three
of the 1969 World Series.

Aug. 9, 1945 – H.S. Hagood baled the first bale of cotton of
the 1945 season in Conecuh County at the gin plant of the Evergreen Mfg. Co.

Aug. 9, 1945 – During World War II, Nagasaki was devastated
when an atomic bomb, Fat Man, was dropped by the United States B-29 Bockscar. 35,000 people were killed
outright, including 23,200-28,200 Japanese war workers, 2,000 Korean forced
workers, and 150 Japanese soldiers. The bombing came three days after the
bombing of Hiroshima, and Japan surrendered on Aug. 14, 1945.

Aug. 9, 1945 - The first network television broadcast
occurred in Washington, D.C. The program announced the bombing of Nagasaki,
Japan.

Aug. 9, 1949 – Best-selling mystery writer Jonathan
Kellerman was born in New York City’s Lower East Side. His first novel was
1985’s “When the Bough Breaks.”

Aug. 9, 1950 - A man lost his life in a tragic accident in
Conecuh County on this Wednesday morning about 9:30. The accident occurred on
the edge of town where the Owassa Road comes into Skinnerton Highway at
Parmer’s Station. The dead man was Zion Miller, age about 60. The accident was
investigated by Cpl. Louie Phillips and Patrolman J.W. Kendricks of the Alabama
Highway Patrol, who gave this account. Miller was riding in the cab of a truck
of the Hamiter Lumber Co. The chain holding a load of lumber broke, and Miller
jumped from the cab and fell under the wheels of the truck. His skull was
crushed. The truck did not leave the highway, but the lumber was spilled over
the steep embankment. According to Capt. O.T. McDuff, officer in charge of the
Evergreen District of the Alabama Highway Patrol, Miller was the 11th
traffic fatality in Conecuh County that year as compared to only one in 1949.
McDuff added that Miller was the ninth person killed by traffic accidents
within the vicinity of Evergreen.

Aug. 9, 1956 - The first statewide, state-supported
educational television network went on the air in Alabama.

Aug. 9, 1960 – Kathy Jane Beasley, age six, was killed in a
two-vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 31, two miles north of McKenzie. Her
mother, Bobbie Fay Beasley; a 15-month-old named Paul; Dempsey Goodwin of
Detroit, Mich.; and Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Hanks of Akron, Ohio were also
injured in the accident. Goodwin and the Hanks couple were all in the same
vehicle and were on their way to visit Goodwin’s brother in Evergreen.

Aug. 9, 1961 – Greening Masonic
Lodge No. 53 was dedicated on Edwina
Street in Evergreen, Ala. and the cornerstone of the new lodge building was laid in a ceremony conducted by officers of the
Grand Lodge. The ceremony was
scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

Aug. 9, 1964 – Monroeville’s team in the Conecuh Amateur
Baseball League split a doubleheader against league leading Damascus in
Monroeville, Ala. Monroeville lost the first game, 3-0, but won the second
game, 4-3, behind the pitching of lefthander Gary Downs.

Aug. 9, 1966 – The first bale of cotton of the 1966 crop in
the entire state of Alabama was ginned in Evergreen, Ala. on this day at the
Evergreen Gin Co. J.T. Ward, well-known farmer and agricultural leader, brought
Alabama’s first bale to the gin on this day, and this was the first time it was
known that Conecuh County produced the first bale. Ward’s first bale weighed a
net of 502 pounds and graded Middling 1-1/6 inch staple. It was auctioned off
on Aug. 12 at the Evergreen Gin, bringing a premium price of 79 cents per
pound, a total of $396.35. Weil Brothers of Montgomery bought the cotton.

Aug. 9, 1967 – Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback and
return specialist Deion Sanders was born in Fort Myers, Fla. He went on to play
at Florida State, the Atlanta Falcons, the San Francisco 49ers, the Dallas Cowboys,
the Washington Redskins and the Baltimore Ravens. He was inducted into the Hall
of Fame in 2011.

Aug. 9, 1967 - First Marine
Division launched Operation Cochise in the Que Son valley. Meanwhile, the First
Cavalry Division continued with Operation Pershing, a major clearing operation
in the Binh Dinh province designed to improve the security situation in support
of the ongoing pacification effort.

Aug. 9, 1974 – As a direct result of the Watergate scandal,
Richard Nixon became the first President of the United States to resign from
office. Gerald R. Ford took his place, and became the 38th President of the
United States.

Aug. 9, 1975 - The New Orleans Superdome was officially
opened when the Saints played the Houston Oilers in exhibition football.

Aug. 9, 1975 – The T.R. Miller Mill Co. of Brewton won the
Evergreen Quarterback Club’s softball tournament in Evergreen, Ala. on this
Saturday. Johnston’s Big T team won second, and a team from Slocomb finished
third in the tournament, which was organized by the Rev. Zedoc Baxter and Terry
Coleman. Other teams in the tournament, which was held to raise funds for a new
Evergreen High School football dressing room, included Flxible Southern,
Conecuh-Monroe Counties Gas District, Southern Equipment of Brewton and a team from
Selma.

Aug. 9, 1988 – Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Sutton, who
was born in Clio, Ala., appeared in his last Major League Baseball game.

Aug. 9, 2010 – British explorer Ed Stafford became the first
person to walk the entire length of the Amazon River.

Aug. 9, 2015 – Pro Football Hall of Fame halfback and
flanker Frank Gifford died at the age of 84 in Greenwich, Connecticut. During
his career, he played for Southern Cal and the New York Giants. He was inducted
into the Hall of Fame in 1977.